S. Carolina police officer with local ties saves life

[Londo_Jowo]

Imagine that, a police officer that saved someone's life rather than abuse them.

MINSTER, Auglaize County —

A newly minted S. Carolina police officer who grew up in Minster isn't used to the attention he's getting these days.

That's OK, because most people who save the life of another find that being in the spotlight can be unsettling.

"It's way too much attention," Sumter Patrol Officer Quinten Eley, 25, said Wednesday night. "I'm not used to it."

Eley, who was born in Sidney, had only been a police officer for five months when he drove upon several cars parked along a bridge over a pond the night of Jan. 3.

People were outside those cars, pointing at a vehicle, partially submerged, in a body of water called Second Millpond. The driver was still inside.

"I called out to the driver to open the door. There was no response," Eley said, recounting the incident from his parent's home in Minster. "I knew right then that something had to be done pretty quick."

Eley undressed down to a T-shirt, pants and socks. He jumped in the pond, and with the help of the man got the door open and rescued him. The man, 38-year-old Ioan Marcel Cimpean, refused treatment at a hospital and was taken to the Sumter-Lee Regional Detention Center on a DUI complaint.

The temperature that night was 26 degrees.

The car is still in the pond, submerged.

Eley, who knows how to swim, said he doesn't know how deep the pond is but that didn't matter.

"For someone to take off their weapon and as much of their equipment as they can, and dive into freezing cold water to save somebody, it's hard to put into words how proud I am actually of him and the Sumter Police Department," Sumter Police Chief Russell Roark told WIS-TV in Columbia, S.C.

"He did exactly as he's been trained, which was to react on his instinct in training," Roark said.

Eley and Roark said the officer was only doing what he's been trained to do.

Roark said Eley likely saved a life by following his gut and his duty to serve and protect.

"I wanted to help people." Eley said in explaining why he chose police work as a vocation. He studied criminal justice at Liberty University after being home-schooled.

He'll be at mom and dad's house, with wife Amanda, a few more days, extra time tacked onto a vacation when he was given administrative leave because of the incident. Eley hasn't been back to work since the incident, but feels uneasy still because of the attention.

Before jumping into the water, Eley radioed for assistance from his fellow officers and firefighters.

"I feel bad because none of the other officers are getting any credit because they were at the shore, ready to jump in," Eley said. "I know if something would have gone wrong, I know they had my back."
- See more at: http://www.whio.com/news/news/local...l-ties-saves-life/ncgtG/#sthash.nhkkMLTN.dpuf

 

[Newell Steamer]

had only been a police officer for five months

Lets follow up in 5 years.

$10 says he'll be shooting old people in the face and running over children.

 

[CrackRabbit]

:thumbsup:
Not all cops are bad apples, but as the saying goes, one of them ruins the bunch.